the year was 2009. a kinder time. a gentler time. a time when “slate magazine” still knew that masks do not stop SARS or swine flu because the virions are too small and too aerosolozied.
amazing how so many takes from so many people changed while the science never changed one whit.
there is still not a single, valid, clinical outcomes RCT that supports masking to stop covid.
there are literally dozens that show inefficacy.
the science here could not be more clear.
there is no data that can convince people who do not care about data and choose to clutch talismans instead so they can feel like they are “doing something.”
this is just the low energy path to profess tribal allegiance and signal virtue.
So I am a procedural nurse & yesterday was taking care of a patient & his wife.
I walked into the room where the patient was recovering from his procedure and the patient had his black K95 mask perched over his eyes so he could sleep.
As he was taking his mask down from his eyes, I said, “You, sir, win the prize for finding the only thing these masks are good for.”
He and his wife just stared at me for a second and then started to laugh. I hate that the public views the medical profession as this monolithic cheerleader / enforcer of pointless efforts like masks. But God knows our field deserves it.
I posted on FB about mandatory jabs and civil liberties and a friend replies:
"No freedoms lost here- I’ve traveled to Japan, Canada, and back to the States in the last month thanks to my vaccine passport."
We can't underestimate the selfishness of people in our fight. Because THEIR freedoms aren't impacted they don't see a problem. Just like the good Aryans in 1930s Germany.
When everything first locked down, I made the statement to my wife that maybe everything could go back to normal if we all wear masks. I believe this sentiment was what lead to the masking mandates. After terrifying the population, the government had to convince them that it might be safe to go back out to stores and buy things.
Admittedly, right after I thought that masks might help, I looked at the research and realized it wouldn’t. Now we know the virus is transmitted by aerosols and I think that masks might be actively harmful by increasing the shear on exhalations. It is all so dumb.
Wow Gato, poor form to overlook the most important factor in the Changed Science: this issue was not yet useful for political purposes way back in 2009. You really need to adjust your models!
Irrespective of the fact that viral particles will easily go through mask, I still cannot see why it is so difficult for people to understand that the overwhelming majority of persons walking around are simply not infected with the damned virus. If they are not infected with the virus, they cannot pose a risk of infection to others, irrespective of whether the mask blocks the virus or not. You don't need to protect yourself from them either. We do not open an umbrella if it is not raining. If someone is sick, it could make some sense to wear a mask, even if you think it may not work...
The Science has gotten better since then. Through genius and innovation, we created a version of The Science that does not even require questions. Are you not impressed?
At the beginning of 2020 when masks were first denied to help (even dr Fauxi said so) and then mandated, I read multiple documents where indeed, masks were told to be useless. One was from the dentist association in Canada. Most of them were obligated to take down the documents to comply with the mandate. Of course, friends of the government had by that time mass produced enough masks so everyone could buy one. I have not bought one. A friend gave me one, and in 2 stores that mandated they gave them out for free. No pollution from me. I only wore the elastic bands out on one. I still have the other 2 in my handbag somewhere....
Some time around the beginning of March 2020, we detachment from reality. The Collective broke away from the mother ship. This became a Collective Humanist endeavor. Thus, all prior honest research was deemed null and void, unless it somehow supported the controlled narrative. Funny that Fauci was a little slow to catch on, with his early comments on masks. Then he realized what was happening and quickly got on board. If not guided by truth, how is the narrative controlled? That part is complicated. It's group psychology, mainly among the collectivist elites (millions of them). Despite our outer differences, we have a shared psychology. If something makes me feel safe, less anxious, empowered, hopeful, virtuous, wickedly exhilarated, etc, the chances are very good that a lot of other people would have the same reaction. Thus the operative narrative becomes that which provides the most emotional benefit over the most number of people. A lower emotion benefit would be preferred if it was freely embraced by a higher number of people. The narrative is in constant pursuit of this optimal balance. If it goes too far and enough people start rejecting it, it has to back off and adjusted to something more palatable. The more fearful and unbalanced we are, the more insanity we're willing to embrace, because we're desperate to restore some measure of inner peace. We can only endure anxiety for so long.
The fact that masking is pointless in stopping the spread is applying an old criteria to a new paradigm. Reality isn't of concern here. They don't care about reality. The belief that masks work brings a lot of emotional benefits for complicated reasons, not just virus protection IMHO. Thus, it continues to be an integral part of the narrative.
I write from the People's Democratic Republic of Kalifornia, where Dear Leader Gavin has decreed that all indoor spaces require again a cloth spittle drape be affixed over one's mouth an nose in order to save our comrades lives. Dear Leader Gavin is greatly beloved in the PDRK and the people truly love to show their obedience with the ardent use of the facial spittle drape in any and all venues. Our comrades will never stop wearing the spittle drapery, never! You hear me, bad kitty. One day soon (January 16 to be exact) all the evil capitalist hordes will be dead from Omicron and the PDRK will be victorious. Spittle drapery can then be universal for all the comrades who will join the PDRK in a glorious future of Dear Leader's stimmy checks and free hourly covid testing for all.
I couldn't agree more with this. Back when COVID really "broke" in the USA, the CDC published a meta-study on whether masks helped stop the spread of the seasonal flu. The meta-study reviewed something like 17 studies from various jurisdictions and time periods over a lengthy period of time. The conclusion was that paper and cloth masks do nothing, and there was some evidence of harm from prolonged use. Washing hands regularly was more effective.
Soon after this meta-study was released, the CDC recommended everyone mask up, then recommended that double masking wouldn't be a bad idea. The meta-study was memory holed. And, we've been watching COVID theater ever since.
It was 11:59 on Pandemic Eve. Hope there was none that masks could save us. Despair was throughout the land. Then just as all seemed lost, on the stroke of midnight the Mask-Færy appeared; a wave of her wand and magically masks turned into HazMat suits with their own air supply all the while still appearing as flimsy pieces of paper and cloth hanging from the ears. O bright new dawn. Great joy spread among the people who then went into their homes and stayed there to await the coming of the Saviour Lord of the Vaccines, when they would emerge into the Promised Land.
Someone should mail send this to the CA Department of Public Health who just issued a ‘memo/guidance’ that now we Californios, (regardless of vaxx/booster status, have to wear masks indoors at businesses, restaurants, and be Covid tested 24 hours before going to a large ‘mega-event’! (What constitutes a ‘mega- event, beats me.) This is supposedly in effect from Dec 15-JAN 15! (What COVID will be over by Jan 15?) Any how a local attorney (who represents businesses against the local government tyranny), where I live in San Diego County, (where we have not been required to wear a mask any where but businesses have the lame signs on the door that say “if you are fully vaxxed you can enter without a mask”, just said that is Memo is totally unenforceable, that law enforcement has absolutely no interest in ‘enforcing it and DO NOT COMPLY! That’s all I needed to hear and the ‘ammo’ I needed when I go back out tomorrow without a mask! There may be some rough days, but I am standing true to my right to not wear a medical device on my face!
Repost....... Common cold and Omicron The cold is likely the most common sickness: around people in the United States come down with a billion colds annually. Most adults come down with two to three colds a year, and children even more. It usually takes people between seven and 10 days to get over a cold. Many viruses cause the cold, which includes symptoms like runny nose, sore throat, coughing and sneezing, headaches and body aches. The most common culprit is the rhinovirus. Symptoms typically start two to three days after you’re infected. The cold is usually passed along when you touch a surface infected by cold viruses. Most people recover from colds within seven to 10 days. But people with weakened immune systems, asthma, or other respiratory illnesses can develop serious illnesses, like bronchitis or pneumonia. In 2020 there were 711,000 pneumonia deaths in the United States alone. To date there have been ZERO deaths from Omicron in the United States and maybe one in the World. New lock downs, mask mandates, forced injections of harmful experimental drugs....The World has gone nuts, being lead by even nuttier leaders.
I understand that surgical and cloth masks do nothing at an epidemiological level. The air flows out through the gaps unfiltered, they do not filter the smallest particles and so. But:
1. Can we say the same about FFP2 masks?
2. Can surgical masks or FFP2 do some good in particular situations? For example a casual conversation with someone. Can they stop some droplets that can give you the virus?
"Viruses, including the coronavirus that scientists believe may be the cause of SARS, are so tiny that they can easily pass through such barriers. Several studies even have shown that surgical masks fail to prevent transmission of the much larger mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes TB. While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that people who have SARS wear these masks, they do not even recommend them for people in contact with those patients unless the infected person can’t wear one. Wearing surgical masks outdoors, where virus-laden particles easily disperse, has even less value."
Fully agree - everyone must stand up where they are!
A minor anecdote, but it still felt good in my very blue state - today, I walked into a building requiring everyone to be masked, "vaccinated" or not, and did not wear a mask. Then, I walked into the fully-masked dentist's office without a mask and never put one on, despite being admonished via phone to have done so prior to arriving at my appointment. No one said a word, although I did get a nasty look from someone with a baby in the lobby, masked and waiting for the elevator on the first floor, as I ran up the stairs to the third floor. I feel bad for the dentist's employees - seems the American Dental Association has gone off the rails. My dentist is normally low-key and dressed down in a button-down shirt with nice slacks and shoes. Today he arrived completely gowned like a surgeon and masked/shielded. Sigh - guess it's time to find a new dentist.
I actually managed to get my wife to go to a store here in the communist utopia of OR without wearing a mask the other day. It's refreshing seeing the faces of others. Sadly our state is in dire straits.
Of course the mask is not effective; all thinking people know that by now. Instead, the mask is a tool of repression and fear, and a constant reminder that there is some killer disease out there that can be warded off by the mask. I knew from day 1 that the masks would prove to be a disaster. Sometimes I hate it when I'm right. Little did I know how divisive these worthless things would prove to be.
So I am a procedural nurse & yesterday was taking care of a patient & his wife.
I walked into the room where the patient was recovering from his procedure and the patient had his black K95 mask perched over his eyes so he could sleep.
As he was taking his mask down from his eyes, I said, “You, sir, win the prize for finding the only thing these masks are good for.”
He and his wife just stared at me for a second and then started to laugh. I hate that the public views the medical profession as this monolithic cheerleader / enforcer of pointless efforts like masks. But God knows our field deserves it.
I posted on FB about mandatory jabs and civil liberties and a friend replies:
"No freedoms lost here- I’ve traveled to Japan, Canada, and back to the States in the last month thanks to my vaccine passport."
We can't underestimate the selfishness of people in our fight. Because THEIR freedoms aren't impacted they don't see a problem. Just like the good Aryans in 1930s Germany.
We are fucked.
When everything first locked down, I made the statement to my wife that maybe everything could go back to normal if we all wear masks. I believe this sentiment was what lead to the masking mandates. After terrifying the population, the government had to convince them that it might be safe to go back out to stores and buy things.
Admittedly, right after I thought that masks might help, I looked at the research and realized it wouldn’t. Now we know the virus is transmitted by aerosols and I think that masks might be actively harmful by increasing the shear on exhalations. It is all so dumb.
Wow Gato, poor form to overlook the most important factor in the Changed Science: this issue was not yet useful for political purposes way back in 2009. You really need to adjust your models!
Irrespective of the fact that viral particles will easily go through mask, I still cannot see why it is so difficult for people to understand that the overwhelming majority of persons walking around are simply not infected with the damned virus. If they are not infected with the virus, they cannot pose a risk of infection to others, irrespective of whether the mask blocks the virus or not. You don't need to protect yourself from them either. We do not open an umbrella if it is not raining. If someone is sick, it could make some sense to wear a mask, even if you think it may not work...
The Science has gotten better since then. Through genius and innovation, we created a version of The Science that does not even require questions. Are you not impressed?
...systemic degradation of actual scientific method(& results) as well as misappropriation of the terminology...
Where I live, the only question we have is...huh...what's covid? It's just a memory at this point.
Been disobeying for a LONG time now... :-) Smiling at others doing the same!
“It will only stop when you make it stop”
Sadly the weak minded are perfectly ok with whats happening. Being they are the majority, it likely never will …
At the beginning of 2020 when masks were first denied to help (even dr Fauxi said so) and then mandated, I read multiple documents where indeed, masks were told to be useless. One was from the dentist association in Canada. Most of them were obligated to take down the documents to comply with the mandate. Of course, friends of the government had by that time mass produced enough masks so everyone could buy one. I have not bought one. A friend gave me one, and in 2 stores that mandated they gave them out for free. No pollution from me. I only wore the elastic bands out on one. I still have the other 2 in my handbag somewhere....
Some time around the beginning of March 2020, we detachment from reality. The Collective broke away from the mother ship. This became a Collective Humanist endeavor. Thus, all prior honest research was deemed null and void, unless it somehow supported the controlled narrative. Funny that Fauci was a little slow to catch on, with his early comments on masks. Then he realized what was happening and quickly got on board. If not guided by truth, how is the narrative controlled? That part is complicated. It's group psychology, mainly among the collectivist elites (millions of them). Despite our outer differences, we have a shared psychology. If something makes me feel safe, less anxious, empowered, hopeful, virtuous, wickedly exhilarated, etc, the chances are very good that a lot of other people would have the same reaction. Thus the operative narrative becomes that which provides the most emotional benefit over the most number of people. A lower emotion benefit would be preferred if it was freely embraced by a higher number of people. The narrative is in constant pursuit of this optimal balance. If it goes too far and enough people start rejecting it, it has to back off and adjusted to something more palatable. The more fearful and unbalanced we are, the more insanity we're willing to embrace, because we're desperate to restore some measure of inner peace. We can only endure anxiety for so long.
The fact that masking is pointless in stopping the spread is applying an old criteria to a new paradigm. Reality isn't of concern here. They don't care about reality. The belief that masks work brings a lot of emotional benefits for complicated reasons, not just virus protection IMHO. Thus, it continues to be an integral part of the narrative.
There was a Democrat
Who lived in The Blue
He/She/They had so many masks
He/She/They didn't know what to do
I write from the People's Democratic Republic of Kalifornia, where Dear Leader Gavin has decreed that all indoor spaces require again a cloth spittle drape be affixed over one's mouth an nose in order to save our comrades lives. Dear Leader Gavin is greatly beloved in the PDRK and the people truly love to show their obedience with the ardent use of the facial spittle drape in any and all venues. Our comrades will never stop wearing the spittle drapery, never! You hear me, bad kitty. One day soon (January 16 to be exact) all the evil capitalist hordes will be dead from Omicron and the PDRK will be victorious. Spittle drapery can then be universal for all the comrades who will join the PDRK in a glorious future of Dear Leader's stimmy checks and free hourly covid testing for all.
Wouldn't a comparison between the evidence for masking vs the evidence for ivermectin make the lunacy even clearer?
I couldn't agree more with this. Back when COVID really "broke" in the USA, the CDC published a meta-study on whether masks helped stop the spread of the seasonal flu. The meta-study reviewed something like 17 studies from various jurisdictions and time periods over a lengthy period of time. The conclusion was that paper and cloth masks do nothing, and there was some evidence of harm from prolonged use. Washing hands regularly was more effective.
Soon after this meta-study was released, the CDC recommended everyone mask up, then recommended that double masking wouldn't be a bad idea. The meta-study was memory holed. And, we've been watching COVID theater ever since.
There is a reason for the existence of sand.
It’s for drawing lines in.
It was 11:59 on Pandemic Eve. Hope there was none that masks could save us. Despair was throughout the land. Then just as all seemed lost, on the stroke of midnight the Mask-Færy appeared; a wave of her wand and magically masks turned into HazMat suits with their own air supply all the while still appearing as flimsy pieces of paper and cloth hanging from the ears. O bright new dawn. Great joy spread among the people who then went into their homes and stayed there to await the coming of the Saviour Lord of the Vaccines, when they would emerge into the Promised Land.
And beat goes on. Reason is circling the drain.
Someone should mail send this to the CA Department of Public Health who just issued a ‘memo/guidance’ that now we Californios, (regardless of vaxx/booster status, have to wear masks indoors at businesses, restaurants, and be Covid tested 24 hours before going to a large ‘mega-event’! (What constitutes a ‘mega- event, beats me.) This is supposedly in effect from Dec 15-JAN 15! (What COVID will be over by Jan 15?) Any how a local attorney (who represents businesses against the local government tyranny), where I live in San Diego County, (where we have not been required to wear a mask any where but businesses have the lame signs on the door that say “if you are fully vaxxed you can enter without a mask”, just said that is Memo is totally unenforceable, that law enforcement has absolutely no interest in ‘enforcing it and DO NOT COMPLY! That’s all I needed to hear and the ‘ammo’ I needed when I go back out tomorrow without a mask! There may be some rough days, but I am standing true to my right to not wear a medical device on my face!
Repost....... Common cold and Omicron The cold is likely the most common sickness: around people in the United States come down with a billion colds annually. Most adults come down with two to three colds a year, and children even more. It usually takes people between seven and 10 days to get over a cold. Many viruses cause the cold, which includes symptoms like runny nose, sore throat, coughing and sneezing, headaches and body aches. The most common culprit is the rhinovirus. Symptoms typically start two to three days after you’re infected. The cold is usually passed along when you touch a surface infected by cold viruses. Most people recover from colds within seven to 10 days. But people with weakened immune systems, asthma, or other respiratory illnesses can develop serious illnesses, like bronchitis or pneumonia. In 2020 there were 711,000 pneumonia deaths in the United States alone. To date there have been ZERO deaths from Omicron in the United States and maybe one in the World. New lock downs, mask mandates, forced injections of harmful experimental drugs....The World has gone nuts, being lead by even nuttier leaders.
A breath of fresh air from way-back-when Australia: https://www.smh.com.au/national/farce-mask-its-safe-for-only-20-minutes-20030427-gdgnyo.html
I still have the same questions.
I understand that surgical and cloth masks do nothing at an epidemiological level. The air flows out through the gaps unfiltered, they do not filter the smallest particles and so. But:
1. Can we say the same about FFP2 masks?
2. Can surgical masks or FFP2 do some good in particular situations? For example a casual conversation with someone. Can they stop some droplets that can give you the virus?
There is also this, even more stunning. From Australia! The title of the 2003 article is
"Farce mask: it's safe for only 20 minutes."
https://www.smh.com.au/national/farce-mask-its-safe-for-only-20-minutes-20030427-gdgnyo.html
There is also this, same author.
"Viruses, including the coronavirus that scientists believe may be the cause of SARS, are so tiny that they can easily pass through such barriers. Several studies even have shown that surgical masks fail to prevent transmission of the much larger mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes TB. While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that people who have SARS wear these masks, they do not even recommend them for people in contact with those patients unless the infected person can’t wear one. Wearing surgical masks outdoors, where virus-laden particles easily disperse, has even less value."
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/01/coronavirus-surgical-masks-china.html
Fully agree - everyone must stand up where they are!
A minor anecdote, but it still felt good in my very blue state - today, I walked into a building requiring everyone to be masked, "vaccinated" or not, and did not wear a mask. Then, I walked into the fully-masked dentist's office without a mask and never put one on, despite being admonished via phone to have done so prior to arriving at my appointment. No one said a word, although I did get a nasty look from someone with a baby in the lobby, masked and waiting for the elevator on the first floor, as I ran up the stairs to the third floor. I feel bad for the dentist's employees - seems the American Dental Association has gone off the rails. My dentist is normally low-key and dressed down in a button-down shirt with nice slacks and shoes. Today he arrived completely gowned like a surgeon and masked/shielded. Sigh - guess it's time to find a new dentist.
I actually managed to get my wife to go to a store here in the communist utopia of OR without wearing a mask the other day. It's refreshing seeing the faces of others. Sadly our state is in dire straits.
https://brownstone.org/articles/more-than-400-studies-on-the-failure-of-compulsory-covid-interventions/
pages and pages of ineffectiveness of masks (and mandates and lockdowns) here in this article.
Of course the mask is not effective; all thinking people know that by now. Instead, the mask is a tool of repression and fear, and a constant reminder that there is some killer disease out there that can be warded off by the mask. I knew from day 1 that the masks would prove to be a disaster. Sometimes I hate it when I'm right. Little did I know how divisive these worthless things would prove to be.
We are that seagull
i totally agree with your last 3 conclusions, gato!!!
As a birder, I love the gull meme of course! And the message.
Good job California!